Federal Legislation & News
in Special Education
The Education Department gave another agency power to distribute its money. It hasn’t gone well.
POLITICO
The stumbles of an early Trump administration experiment to carve up the Education Department risks undercutting the president’s more dramatic demolition plan for the agency. The Labor Department began taking control of federal career, technical, and adult education money as part of a pact this spring with the education agency that was intended to centralize and streamline government workforce programs. Critics say a combination of technical problems, communication lapses, bureaucratic hurdles, and scant preparation related to new grant payment systems snarled the process of distributing money from a $1.4 billion program for career and technical education initiatives for schools and local governments. The record-breaking government shutdown didn’t help, either. Now state education leaders, Democratic lawmakers, and former Biden administration officials say recent issues with distributing funds are likely a preview of bigger problems that could unfold when the Trump administration starts to outsource more of the Education Department’s work to other agencies.
With crossed wires and late funding, some call Education Department move to Labor a ‘muddle’
The 74
The Education Department last week unveiled six interagency agreements with four other federal agencies as part of the Trump administration’s plan to wind down an agency that it argues was unconstitutional to begin with. “Let’s make sure that that grant money that’s coming from the federal government is getting in [states’] hands as efficiently as possible,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said during a White House briefing Thursday. “We don’t want teachers having to spend their time and money on regulatory compliance.” But for some state directors like Kinkaid, the result has been frustrating. The administration, he said, has “asked state CTE programs to essentially fly for the past six months without air traffic control.”
Lawmakers heard about the rocky start last week. “Operationally, it is a muddle,” Braden Goetz told the House education committee. He spent 26 years in the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education and now works as a senior policy advisor at New America, a left-leaning think tank. “I don’t understand how the work gets done. When Secretary McMahon makes decisions, does she call the Secretary of Labor and ask her to communicate that down the chain?”
Fragmented federal education plan could harm students with disabilities, advocates warn
Education Week
Parceling out the U.S. Department of Education’s responsibilities to other agencies puts students with disabilities at risk by weakening federal enforcement of the laws that protect them and severing important connections between offices that help states and districts meet their needs, advocates said Wednesday. They raised those fears a day after the Education Department announced plans to offload the duties of many of its offices to other federal agencies. Those offices include elementary and secondary education, which will see core responsibilities such as administering Title I and other key funding streams shift to the U.S. Department of Labor under an interagency agreement made without congressional approval.
“The separation and fragmentation of K–12 oversight, funding, and technical assistance is a direct threat to the integrated systems that are designed to serve all children in our nation’s schools,” said Denise Marshall, CEO of The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates. “We continue to call on Congress to provide oversight in the form of a hearing as soon as possible.”
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Concerns raised as teachers increasingly use AI to write IEPs
Disability Scoop
The number of teachers using AI to develop individualized education programs, or IEPs, for students with disabilities is surging, but so too are questions about what role the technology should play. Among licensed special education teachers, 57% said they used AI to help with IEPs or 504 plans during the 2024-2025 school year, according to a new report from the nonprofit Center for Democracy & Technology. That’s up 18% from just one year prior. Special educators reported using AI to identify trends in student progress, summarize the content of IEPs or 504 plans, choose specific accommodations, write the narrative portion of the plans, or, in some cases, to write plans in full, the report found.
The brief warns that educators risk running afoul of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which requires that IEPs be unique and individualized documents, as well as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, and state-level privacy laws, particularly if they use freely available AI tools like ChatGPT. In addition, the Center for Democracy & Technology report raises concerns about accuracy, bias, and other issues with information generated through AI.
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Congressional Democrats Decry Dismantling of Disability Labor Protections
A coalition of 56 Democratic lawmakers, led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Reps Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Lateefah Simon (D-CA), sent a letter to Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer condemning what they describe as the “most significant rollback of disability employment protections” in decades. The lawmakers criticized Chavez-DeRemer for proposing to eliminate key provisions of Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act—such as hiring goals, data collection, and enforcement mechanisms for federal contractors—while also cutting staff and budgets for the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and the Office of Disability Employment. They argued these changes would reduce accountability, limit job opportunities for people with disabilities, and increase dependence on government benefits. The letter further denounced the continued use of subminimum wage certificates under Section 14(c) and the removal of equal opportunity rules in apprenticeship programs, accusing Chavez-DeRemer of dismantling bipartisan progress that has expanded economic inclusion for disabled workers. The lawmakers requested a formal explanation by December 11, 2025.
WH Issues EO to Modernize Foster Care System
The White House (WH) has issued an executive order (EO) titled Fostering the Future for American Children and Families. The EO directs federal agencies to modernize the child welfare system and expand support for young people in or leaving foster care. It tasks the Department of Health and Human Services with improving state-level data collection; updating outdated reporting requirements; advancing the use of modern technology and analytics in foster care management; and publishing annual scorecards measuring state performance on key child welfare outcomes. It also launches a “Fostering the Future” initiative to build public–private partnerships that expand education, employment, and support services for current and former foster youth, including the creation of an online platform, greater flexibility in education vouchers, and better use of returned federal funds. Additionally, the order calls for increasing collaboration with faith-based organizations and ensuring they are not improperly excluded from child-welfare programs. All actions must follow existing law and are subject to available funding.
Special education: Department of Education cuts are leaving kids with disabilities behind
Slate
When reduction-in-force notices went out to hundreds of Department of Education employees as part of the shutdown, more than 100 of these DOE workers were part of the team that oversaw special ed around the country. They ensured resources got distributed equitably, and had been doing that since the ’70s. Now, they are simply not there. A court has put these firings on hold, but that hasn’t made parents feel much better. Pepper Stetler knows this well. Stetler is a professor who writes about education and disability, and her 13-year-old daughter, Louisa, has Down syndrome. It’s not like special ed in this country has been perfect. But for 50 years, it has been there. The federal government has acted as a watchdog, stepping in if states fail to deliver the right to education to disabled children. But even with the government set to reopen, many of the cuts to special education may remain.
Federal special education staff may get their jobs back. But for how long?
OPB
The deal Congress reached to re-open the federal government requires the Trump administration to reinstate federal workers who were fired in October, including those charged with overseeing the nation’s special education laws. But it’s not clear how long they’ll be back. As NPR has reported, the Office for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) inside the U.S. Department of Education is the central nervous system for programs that support students with disabilities. It not only offers guidance to families but also oversees state compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). OSERS can’t do its job without staff, and, according to a new Education Department filing, the office lost 121 of its 135 employees in the October reduction-in-force. That matters because, while Wednesday’s funding agreement will return those workers to “employment status” as of Sept. 30, there appears to be little protecting them after Jan. 30, when that provision expires. “We are concerned special education will cease to exist,” says Jacqueline Rodriguez, CEO of the National Center for Learning Disabilities.
As Government Reopens, Ed Department Brings Back Fired Special Education Staffers
Disability Scoop
A deal to end the nation’s longest-ever government shutdown is reversing plans to gut the U.S. Department of Education’s special education office and providing funds for other disability programs — at least temporarily. President Donald Trump signed legislation late Wednesday to fund the government, bringing the 43-day shutdown to an end. The spending package funds some things for the year, but will ensure spending for most federal agencies — including the vast majority of disability programs — only through Jan. 30. The agreement also requires the Trump administration to reverse layoffs issued during the shutdown and precludes any similar firings through Jan. 30.
Disability advocates warned that dismantling the special education office — and the resulting lack of federal oversight — put the rights guaranteed to students under IDEA at risk. Already, they said they were hearing that some local officials were asking which parts of IDEA could be ignored since no one in Washington was paying attention.
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Special educator shortages demand tailored solutions, Brookings Institution says
K-12 Dive
Some 45 states reported special education teacher shortages in the 2023-24 school year, according to a Learning Policy Institute study from July that Brookings cited. A separate report from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences found that during the 2021-22 school year, special education vacancies were about twice as likely as vacancies for other teaching positions. To compensate for the shortages and reverse these trends, education experts have been exploring various recruitment and retention solutions. Brookings pointed to a March study from the Learning Policy Institute outlining approaches from four states that included salary increases, residency programs, and support and mentoring efforts. In Indiana, Massachusetts, and Texas, for example, Brookings said “large proportions of special education teachers move into general education teaching positions each year.” While these teachers are not “lost to the system,” initiatives designed to keep special education teachers in special education should be factored in, the authors said.
Will Trump policies exacerbate the special education teacher shortage?
K-12 Dive
Teacher preparation experts fear ongoing special education teacher shortages will worsen as the Trump administration continues to downsize the U.S. Department of Education. Along with mass layoffs at the federal agency, proposals to consolidate federal grants for training special educators are fueling concerns that these moves will exacerbate critical staffing issues. During the 2024-25 school year alone, 45 states reported shortages in special education — the most frequently reported shortage area nationwide, according to Learning Policy Institute. The other most common shortages reported by states include science (41), math (40), language arts (38), world languages (35) and career and technical education (33), LPI found.
COPAA files amicus brief urging the Third Circuit to recognize student’s right to her administratively-ordered “stay-put” placement
Last week, COPAA and several other advocacy organizations filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in support of a student with a disability who is in the foster care system in Y.C.Q. v. Chichester School District. You can read the brief Y.C.Q. v. Chichester here.
In this case, the due process hearing officer agreed with the student and ordered a change in her Individualized Education Program (“IEP”) program and placement. The school district appealed the decision, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania reversed, but in doing so disregarded the student’s “stay-put” right to attend the ordered placement during the pendency of the appeals process. The amicus brief urges the Third Circuit to reverse the district court’s decision and enforce the student’s right to “stay put” under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”).
In the brief, COPAA and its fellow amici explained that an IDEA hearing officer’s placement decision constitutes a legal agreement between the state and the student’s parent / educational decision maker, thus entitling the student to attend that placement as her “then-current educational placement” pursuant to the “stay-put” right set forth in 20 U.S.C. § 1415(j), which operates as an automatic injunction to maintain the student’s placement during the entirety of the litigation, including appeals.
COPAA was joined on the brief by fellow amici the Arc of Greater Pittsburgh, Disability Rights Pennsylvania, Juvenile Law Center, the Public Interest Law Center, Kidsvoice, and the National Disability Rights Network. COPAA Legal Director Selene Almazan and COPAA Amicus Committee Co-Chair Catherine Merino Reisman wrote the brief.
COPAA files amicus brief with the Sixth Circuit supporting parents’ right to sue states in federal court for IDEA violations
On October 30, COPAA and several other organizations, law firms, lawyers, and legal scholars filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Y.A. v. Hamtramck, a case in which a group parents of children with disabilities sued their school district and the Michigan Department of Education for violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”). You can read the Y.A. v. Hamtramck brief here.
COPAA and its fellow amici urged the Sixth Circuit to affirm the order of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan that denied the defendants’ motions to dismiss and found that the families in this case were not required to exhaust administrative remedies by first filing a due process suit because doing so would have been futile. The District Court concluded that an administrative hearing officer could not order the relief sought by the plaintiffs to remedy the IDEA violations alleged in this case, which involve staffing shortages and other large-scale problems.
The brief also explains that the IDEA establishes a cause of action against states—not just school districts—for the denial of a free appropriate public education (“FAPE”) and that the state “procedurally waived its claim of immunity from suit under IDEA the minute it willingly accepted federal IDEA funds.”
COPAA’s fellow amici include Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, Disability Rights Michigan, Erwin Chemerinsky, Kentucky Protection & Advocacy, Disability Rights Ohio, Disability Rights Tennessee, Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio, Abdnour Weiker, Justin S. Gilbert, Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Northern Kentucky Children’s Law Center, MI AECRES, and National Disability Rights Network. The amicus brief was written by COPAA Legal Director Selene Almazan and COPAA board member and Amicus Committee Co-Chair Ellen Saideman.
Senate Takes Steps to Re-Open Government, Deal Prohibits Federal Layoffs Thru January
On the 42nd day of the longest federal shutdown in U.S. history, the U.S. Senate has attracted bipartisan support for a new deal that could lead to reopening the government. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 proposal -that passed 60-40- will extend government funding through a continuing resolution (CR). The package provides education and other domestic spending funds at current FY 2025 levels for 9 of the nation’s 12 spending bills through January 30, 2026, and it finalizes FY 2026 spending for three federal appropriations bills (Military Construction, Agriculture, Legislative Branch). The Senate CR punts all final appropriations decisions for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and other K-12 programs that come through the Labor-Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-H) appropriations bill into next year. The new Senate deal also reinstates federal workers and prohibits any federally directed layoffs through a reduction in force (RIF) until January 30. This means the RIF conducted by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and other agencies in October cannot go into effect for the duration of the deal through January 30. It also reinforces, consistent with current law, that all furloughed federal employees are to be paid for their time during the shutdown. In exchange for their votes, the eight Democrats who supported the new plan secured a commitment that the Senate would vote by mid-December on extending the expired health care tax credits that have been central to Democrats’ demands. Once the Senate advances the bill, if the House and the White House both agree, federal workers could return to work before the end of the week.
ACT NOW: Tell Congress to Conduct Oversight Hearings to Protect Children with Disabilities
Despite the pending short-term agreement led by the Senate that would allow federal employees to return to work, COPAA remains extremely concerned that the Department of Education (ED) has taken steps to eliminate all but a handful of staff and gut key offices including the Office of Special Education Programs, the Rehabilitation Services Administration, the Office for Civil Rights, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, and more. These cuts, along with public acknowledgement that options are being explored to move special education programs out of ED, threaten accountability and transparency, along with decades of progress in protecting students with disabilities. The harmful actions threaten the core tenets of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and put the educational access and opportunity for millions of children with disabilities at risk. The Secretary’s actions also stand in direct conflict with the Department’s statutorily required duties under IDEA, and such changes have not been approved by Congress. Given these, immediate oversight by Congress is essential. Tell Congress to conduct oversight hearings. The public deserves to learn how the Secretary plans to fulfill the Department’s full obligations under IDEA and other authorized disability laws.